The Anti-Christ

1. Christianity is a religion of weakness and décadence, opposing life's natural instincts.

What is good?—Whatever augments the feeling of power, the will to power, power itself, in man. What is evil?—Whatever springs from weakness.

Defining values. Nietzsche posits a fundamental revaluation of values based on the will to power. Good is that which enhances life, strength, and power; evil is that which diminishes them, stemming from weakness. This framework immediately positions Christianity, with its emphasis on humility, self-sacrifice, and pity, as inherently antagonistic to life's ascending trajectory.

Pity as poison. Pity, the cornerstone of Christian ethics, is seen not as a virtue but as a dangerous depressant. It drains energy, multiplies suffering by making it contagious, and thwarts natural selection by preserving the weak and botched. This instinct, elevated to a virtue, is a prime agent of décadence, persuading towards extinction under the guise of salvation or blessedness.

War against type. Christianity has waged a war to the death against the higher type of man—the strong, proud, and self-affirming individual. It has demonized the instincts of this type, creating the concept of the "Evil One" from their very essence. By promoting values like humility and self-denial, it corrupts even the most vigorous intellects, turning strength into sin.

2. Theological thinking is fundamentally dishonest and poisons philosophy and truth.

Whoever has theological blood in his veins is shifty and dishonourable in all things.

Instinctive falsehood. The theological instinct is identified as the most widespread and subterranean form of falsehood on earth. It operates from a profound instinct of self-preservation that stands against truth ever coming into honor. Theologians, and those influenced by them (like idealists), claim a right to rise above reality, viewing the senses and understanding with suspicion.

Transvaluation of truth. Wherever theologians exert influence, a transvaluation of values occurs, forcing "true" and "false" to switch places. What is most damaging to life is called "true," while whatever exalts, intensifies, and justifies life is called "false." This inversion serves the nihilistic will, the will to make an end, which exerts power through theological concepts.

Priest as parasite. The priest is characterized as a parasitical variety of man who can only exist at the cost of every sound view of life. He takes the name of God in vain, defining "the kingdom of God" as the state where he determines all values. His power relies on inventing concepts like "sin" and "revelation" to destroy man's sense of causality and keep him dependent.

3. Christian morality, based on pity and self-denial, is a conspiracy against the strong.

In order to be able to say Nay to everything representing an ascending evolution of life—that is, to well-being, to power, to beauty, to self-approval—the instincts of ressentiment, here become downright genius, had to invent an other world in which the acceptance of life appeared as the most evil and abominable thing imaginable.

Ressentiment's invention. Christian morality is fundamentally a ressentiment morality, born from the denial of noble values. The weak, unable to assert themselves directly, invent an "other world" where their suffering is virtuous and the strengths of their superiors are sinful. This psychological mechanism allows them to say Nay to life's ascending evolution.

Chandala revolt. Christianity represents a revolt of the Chandala—the outcast, the weak, the botched—against everything noble, joyous, and high-spirited. It uses the lie of "equal rights for all" to wage war on feelings of reverence and distance, which are prerequisites for higher development. This democratic instinct undermines the aristocratic attitude necessary for progress.

Poisoning instincts. The core of Christian ethics is seen as an effort to curb the egoism of the strong, a conspiracy against their free functioning and the progress of mankind. By making concepts like pride, self-interest, and strength appear sinful, Christianity poisons the very instincts that foster health, growth, and the enhancement of life.

4. The historical Jesus was a symbolist misunderstood; Paul and the Church created a false Christianity.

The very word "Christianity" is a misunderstanding—at bottom there was only one Christian, and he died on the cross.

Jesus the symbolist. Nietzsche distinguishes sharply between the figure of Jesus and the Christianity that developed after him. Jesus is interpreted as a profound symbolist, an anti-realist who saw only subjective realities ("the kingdom of God is within you") as true. His life was a demonstration of a specific way of being—peaceful, non-resistant, free from ressentiment—not a call to faith or dogma.

Gospels distorted. The Gospels, though potentially containing glimpses of this type, are seen as mutilated and overladen with extraneous characters by early communities seeking propaganda tools. The original symbolism was progressively misunderstood as Christianity spread among ruder masses. Concepts like "Son of God" were psychological symbols, not historical persons or theological dogmas.

Paul's Dysangelium. Paul is identified as the true founder of Christianity as we know it, representing the opposite of the original "glad tidings." With rabbinical impudence and a genius for hatred, Paul distorted Jesus's message, shifting the focus from a way of life to faith in a "risen" Christ and the promise of personal immortality. This invention served his will to power, organizing mobs and establishing priestly tyranny.

5. Christianity is a revolt of the weak and botched against everything noble and healthy.

The Christian movement, as a European movement, was from the start no more than a general uprising of all sorts of outcast and refuse elements (—who now, under cover of Christianity, aspire to power).

Uprising of the low. Christianity is characterized as a conglomeration of décadence products from all directions, appealing to men disinherited by life—the sick, the dissatisfied, the fallen. It is not the decay of noble antiquity that made Christianity possible, but rather the triumph of the majority, of democracy with its Christian instincts, over the nobility.

Instinct against health. At its core, Christianity harbors the rancor of the sick, an instinct against the healthy and health itself. Everything well-constituted, proud, gallant, and beautiful offends it. Paul's embrace of "the weak things of the world, the foolish things of the world, the base things of the world, and things which are despised" is seen as the formula by which décadence triumphed.

Debasement of man. The church, as the incarnation of this movement, is hostile to honesty, loftiness of soul, discipline of spirit, and spontaneous humanity. It debases humanity to a state of self-pollution through concepts like sin, the other world, and the immortality of the soul, which serve as instruments of torture and control for the priest.

6. Faith is a will to ignorance, a sign of weakness, and an enemy of intellectual integrity.

"Faith" means the will to avoid knowing what is true.

Closing eyes. Faith is defined as closing one's eyes upon one's self once for all to avoid suffering the sight of incurable falsehood. It is a need of weakness, a sign of a broken will to live. The man of faith is dependent, unable to posit himself as a goal, needing someone to use him up.

Antagonist of truth. Every conviction, especially faith, is an antagonist of the truthful man and the truth itself. The believer is not free to answer the question of truth according to conscience, as integrity would lead to downfall. The pathological limitations of vision turn the man of convictions into a fanatic, prioritizing poses over reasons.

Proof by blessedness. The Christian criterion of truth, "proof by power" or "faith makes blessed: therefore it is true," is dismissed as absurd. Blessedness (pleasure) is not a proof of truth; in fact, the experience of profound minds suggests the contrary—truth is hard-won and often painful. Faith, by promising blessedness, is inherently a lie.

7. The Christian concept of God is a degeneration, a crime against the will to power.

The Christian concept of a god—the god as the patron of the sick, the god as a spinner of cobwebs, the god as a spirit—is one of the most corrupt concepts that has ever been set up in the world: it probably touches low-water mark in the ebbing evolution of the god-type.

God's decline. A nation that believes in itself honors its own conditions for survival in its god, projecting its joy and power. This god can be both friend and foe. The Christian God, however, is a castration of this type, shorn of masculine virtues and passions, becoming a god of the physiologically degraded, the weak ("the good").

Abortion of décadence. The dualistic fiction of a good and evil god, and the reduction of God to "goodness-in-itself," are abortions of décadence. This democrat among gods, the god of the "great majority," remains a god of dark nooks and crevices, pale, weak, and easily mastered by metaphysicians.

Contradiction of life. The Christian God is the contradiction of life, declaring war on nature and the will to live. He is the formula for every slander upon the "here and now" and every lie about the "beyond." In him, nothingness is deified, and the will to nothingness is made holy—a crime against life itself.

8. Christianity's means are bad because its ends are bad: poisoning, calumniating, and denying life.

Only bad ends appear: the poisoning, the calumniation, the denial of life, the despising of the body, the degradation and self-contamination of man by the concept of sin—therefore, its means are also bad.

Visible ends. Unlike systems like the Code of Manu, where the ends sought are visible and noble (maintaining social order, fostering higher types), the ends of Christianity are seen as inherently destructive. These include the systematic debasement of human nature and the promotion of suffering and guilt.

Means justify ends? Nietzsche argues that the means employed by Christianity—lying, manipulation, fear-mongering—are a direct consequence of its pernicious goals. The "holy lie" is necessary because the truth would expose the harmful nature of its objectives.

Attack on natural values. The core aim is the denial and destruction of natural values: health, strength, pride, intellect, joy, sexuality, and the body. The means used are designed to achieve this end, making Christianity a force fundamentally opposed to human flourishing and the affirmation of existence.

9. Unlike Buddhism or Manu, Christianity lacks realism and promotes sickness.

Buddhism is a hundred times as realistic as Christianity—it is part of its living heritage that it is able to face problems objectively and coolly; it is the product of long centuries of philosophical speculation.

Buddhism's realism. Buddhism is contrasted favorably with Christianity for its realism and objectivity. It addresses suffering directly without recourse to sin or imaginary causes. It offers hygienic measures and psychological strategies (like egoism as duty) to combat physiological states of décadence, aiming for peace and cheerfulness.

Manu's affirmation. The Code of Manu is praised as an incomparably more intellectual and superior work, grounded in genuine philosophy and the experience of centuries. It embodies noble valuations, acceptance of life, and a triumphant feeling towards self. It handles natural things like procreation, women, and marriage with reverence, unlike Christianity's vulgarity.

Christianity's sickness. Christianity, in contrast, is seen as lacking realism, relying on imaginary causes and effects. It finds sickness necessary, actively promoting morbid symptoms and over-stimulating nerves through diet and practices. Its "highest" states are epileptoid, and it has historically opposed cleanliness and hygiene, demonstrating a fundamental misunderstanding and contempt for the body.

10. The concept of sin was invented by priests to make science and human flourishing impossible.

The concept of guilt and punishment, including the doctrines of "grace," of "salvation," of "forgiveness"—lies through and through, and absolutely without psychological reality—were devised to destroy man's sense of causality: they are an attack upon the concept of cause and effect!

Priest's great danger. The priest's only great danger is science—the sound comprehension of cause and effect. Science flourishes under favorable conditions (time, intellect), so the priest's logic dictates making man unhappy to prevent him from thinking and knowing.

Sin as invention. The concept of sin, man's self-desecration, was invented precisely to make science, culture, and human elevation impossible. It forces man to look inward, to suffer, and to remain in need of the priest. It is a lie devised to destroy man's sense of causality, replacing natural consequences with supernatural ones (rewards, punishments from "God").

Attack on knowledge. The entire "moral order of the world" based on guilt and punishment is set up against science and man's deliverance from priests. This attack is not honest but cowardly and crafty, perpetrated by parasites to maintain power. The priest rules through the invention of sin, ensuring man remains ignorant and dependent.

11. The modern Christian is a monster of falsehood, living anti-Christian values while claiming faith.

To be a soldier, to be a judge, to be a patriot; to defend one's self; to be careful of one's honour; to desire one's own advantage; to be proud ... every act of everyday, every instinct, every valuation that shows itself in a deed, is now anti-Christian: what a monster of falsehood the modern man must be to call himself nevertheless, and without shame, a Christian!—

Indecency of modern faith. In the modern age, with increased knowledge, being a Christian is no longer merely sickly but indecent. Everyone knows there is no "God," "sinner," or "Saviour" in the traditional sense, yet people, including statesmen, continue to call themselves Christians and participate in rituals.

Living the opposite. The values and actions of everyday life—being a soldier, judge, patriot, defending oneself, seeking advantage, being proud—are fundamentally anti-Christian according to the Gospels' original message of non-resistance and denial of the world. Yet, modern individuals embrace these values while simultaneously claiming Christian identity.

Criterion of values. The Christian, particularly the priest, becomes a criterion of values in reverse: whatever they hate or attack (wisdom, pride, courage, freedom) has real value. Their every word is instinctively dishonest, and their values are noxious. The modern Christian embodies a profound psychological self-delusion, a monstrous falsehood born from living instincts that contradict professed faith.

Last updated: May 10, 2025